Leonardo

The Mysteries of Modern Science by Brian M. StablefordReview by: Berol RobinsonLeonardo, Vol. 13, No. 2 (Spring, 1980), p. 157Published by: The MIT PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1577996 .

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Leonardo, Vol. 13, pp. 157-173. Pergamon Press 1980. Printed in Great Britain

BOOKS

Leonardo, Vol. 13, pp. 157-173. Pergamon Press 1980. Printed in Great Britain

BOOKS

Leonardo, Vol. 13, pp. 157-173. Pergamon Press 1980. Printed in Great Britain

BOOKS

Readers are invited to recommend books to be reviewed. In general, only books in English and in French can be reviewed at this stage.

Those who would like to be added to Leonardo's panel of reviewers should write to the Founder- Editor, indicating their particular interests.

Readers are invited to recommend books to be reviewed. In general, only books in English and in French can be reviewed at this stage.

Those who would like to be added to Leonardo's panel of reviewers should write to the Founder- Editor, indicating their particular interests.

Readers are invited to recommend books to be reviewed. In general, only books in English and in French can be reviewed at this stage.

Those who would like to be added to Leonardo's panel of reviewers should write to the Founder- Editor, indicating their particular interests.

The Mysteries of Modern Science. Brian M. Stableford. Rout- ledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1977. 270 pp. ?4.95. Reviewed by Berol Robinson*

Stableford is a science fiction novelist and a onetime sociology lecturer who claims to explore and criticise contemporary science and technology from the point of view of a sceptic. His chapters on relativity, atomic physics, astronomy and cosmology are historical summaries with little structure and occasional non sequiturs. He confuses the principle of special relativity with the theory of general relativity; he attacks the extension of physics from the laboratory to the cosmos as an act of faith that is not necessarily justifiable; and, writing in 1975, he was not yet aware that the discovery 10 years earlier of the cosmic microwave background at three degrees absolute had already clearly distin- guished between the 'big bang' universe and F. Hoyle's ingenious hypothesis of continuous creation.

The second part of the book deals with biological evolution and the structure and function of the brain. Stableford makes an occasional interesting observation: 'Man invented tools and tools invented man.' But he confounds the biological sciences and the human sciences (sic) and regrets that they 'have advanced these last hundred years in an intellectual climate of faith rather inquiry'.

He then turns to 'man and the machine' where he delivers a staggering metaphor: 'Machines, in collaboration with the Wright brothers, learned to fly!' Finally, he discusses the aberrations of I. Velikovsky's astronomy and of J. B. Rhine's extrasensory perception (ESP). The understanding of Rhine's ESP experiments depends on a not very subtle statistical argument that Stableford entirely fails to grasp.

Although Stableford presents a lot of facts, the strategy and philosophy of contemporary science remain for him a mystery: 'Science-the assumption that there is one set of systematic ordering principles: rational, unchanging and universally applicable-may be just one more myth, whose exponents are claiming it as absolute truth in exactly the same way that the Christian Church proclaimed its beliefs in endeavouring to convert the heathens and pagans of the world.'

The description inside the dust jacket promises much much more than the book delivers. It is pretentious to suggest that the book be cataloged as 'Science-History'. The publishers are a very reputable firm and they should know better.

Man and the Stars. Hanbury Brown. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1978. 185 pp., illus. ?5.95. Reviewed by Halton Arp**

Even as an astronomer, I am astonished at how closely astronomy is interwoven with the history of human accomplish- ments and the present understanding of the world and of themselves. It is edifying to read in more detail how important

*1 rue du General Gourand, 92190 Mendon, France.

**Hale Observatories, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101, U.S.A.

The Mysteries of Modern Science. Brian M. Stableford. Rout- ledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1977. 270 pp. ?4.95. Reviewed by Berol Robinson*

Stableford is a science fiction novelist and a onetime sociology lecturer who claims to explore and criticise contemporary science and technology from the point of view of a sceptic. His chapters on relativity, atomic physics, astronomy and cosmology are historical summaries with little structure and occasional non sequiturs. He confuses the principle of special relativity with the theory of general relativity; he attacks the extension of physics from the laboratory to the cosmos as an act of faith that is not necessarily justifiable; and, writing in 1975, he was not yet aware that the discovery 10 years earlier of the cosmic microwave background at three degrees absolute had already clearly distin- guished between the 'big bang' universe and F. Hoyle's ingenious hypothesis of continuous creation.

The second part of the book deals with biological evolution and the structure and function of the brain. Stableford makes an occasional interesting observation: 'Man invented tools and tools invented man.' But he confounds the biological sciences and the human sciences (sic) and regrets that they 'have advanced these last hundred years in an intellectual climate of faith rather inquiry'.

He then turns to 'man and the machine' where he delivers a staggering metaphor: 'Machines, in collaboration with the Wright brothers, learned to fly!' Finally, he discusses the aberrations of I. Velikovsky's astronomy and of J. B. Rhine's extrasensory perception (ESP). The understanding of Rhine's ESP experiments depends on a not very subtle statistical argument that Stableford entirely fails to grasp.

Although Stableford presents a lot of facts, the strategy and philosophy of contemporary science remain for him a mystery: 'Science-the assumption that there is one set of systematic ordering principles: rational, unchanging and universally applicable-may be just one more myth, whose exponents are claiming it as absolute truth in exactly the same way that the Christian Church proclaimed its beliefs in endeavouring to convert the heathens and pagans of the world.'

The description inside the dust jacket promises much much more than the book delivers. It is pretentious to suggest that the book be cataloged as 'Science-History'. The publishers are a very reputable firm and they should know better.

Man and the Stars. Hanbury Brown. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1978. 185 pp., illus. ?5.95. Reviewed by Halton Arp**

Even as an astronomer, I am astonished at how closely astronomy is interwoven with the history of human accomplish- ments and the present understanding of the world and of themselves. It is edifying to read in more detail how important

*1 rue du General Gourand, 92190 Mendon, France.

**Hale Observatories, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101, U.S.A.

The Mysteries of Modern Science. Brian M. Stableford. Rout- ledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1977. 270 pp. ?4.95. Reviewed by Berol Robinson*

Stableford is a science fiction novelist and a onetime sociology lecturer who claims to explore and criticise contemporary science and technology from the point of view of a sceptic. His chapters on relativity, atomic physics, astronomy and cosmology are historical summaries with little structure and occasional non sequiturs. He confuses the principle of special relativity with the theory of general relativity; he attacks the extension of physics from the laboratory to the cosmos as an act of faith that is not necessarily justifiable; and, writing in 1975, he was not yet aware that the discovery 10 years earlier of the cosmic microwave background at three degrees absolute had already clearly distin- guished between the 'big bang' universe and F. Hoyle's ingenious hypothesis of continuous creation.

The second part of the book deals with biological evolution and the structure and function of the brain. Stableford makes an occasional interesting observation: 'Man invented tools and tools invented man.' But he confounds the biological sciences and the human sciences (sic) and regrets that they 'have advanced these last hundred years in an intellectual climate of faith rather inquiry'.

He then turns to 'man and the machine' where he delivers a staggering metaphor: 'Machines, in collaboration with the Wright brothers, learned to fly!' Finally, he discusses the aberrations of I. Velikovsky's astronomy and of J. B. Rhine's extrasensory perception (ESP). The understanding of Rhine's ESP experiments depends on a not very subtle statistical argument that Stableford entirely fails to grasp.

Although Stableford presents a lot of facts, the strategy and philosophy of contemporary science remain for him a mystery: 'Science-the assumption that there is one set of systematic ordering principles: rational, unchanging and universally applicable-may be just one more myth, whose exponents are claiming it as absolute truth in exactly the same way that the Christian Church proclaimed its beliefs in endeavouring to convert the heathens and pagans of the world.'

The description inside the dust jacket promises much much more than the book delivers. It is pretentious to suggest that the book be cataloged as 'Science-History'. The publishers are a very reputable firm and they should know better.

Man and the Stars. Hanbury Brown. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford, 1978. 185 pp., illus. ?5.95. Reviewed by Halton Arp**

Even as an astronomer, I am astonished at how closely astronomy is interwoven with the history of human accomplish- ments and the present understanding of the world and of themselves. It is edifying to read in more detail how important

*1 rue du General Gourand, 92190 Mendon, France.

**Hale Observatories, 813 Santa Barbara St., Pasadena, CA 91101, U.S.A.

astronomy was to the exploration and mapping of the Earth in ancient times. Even the seemingly simple process of navigation at sea depended so critically on knowledge of stellar positions, the correct radius of the Earth and timekeeping being globally accurate to a few seconds. It is quite explicable that ancient- and middle-history governments supported observatories and astro- nomers as an important part of their activities. But even more fundamentally, astronomy transformed human primitive, anth- ropomorphic beliefs of a world controlled by demons and angels into a view of a world run by marvellously complex and interrelated laws of nature.

This book is very gently written, but it is a very scholarly and clearly written book. It explains complicated concepts of plane- tary orbits, the measurement of time, geometry and modern physics. But it does so sparely and transmits a sense of why the concepts are important. The exposition of the early history of astronomy is leisurely, with interesting anecdotes about some of the better known actors in that drama. An example is Galileo Galilei holding a thread up in front of a star to measure its angular sizes. An ironic facet of Isaac Newton's personality is related. Even though his laws of gravitation showed the non- uniqueness of the existence or of the creation of the Earth, Newton himself believed that the Bible gave its creation date to within 20 years. The later developments of nuclear fusion, general relativity and the expanding universe are more compre- ssed into the last third of the book. But the reason for this compression is clearly that the author wishes to come to the question of what is the present and future value of science.

The first point is that the technological products of science that are so present in today's society are inherently neither good nor evil. It is the applications that humans do, or do not, put these machines to that either hurts or benefits. But that is a trivial point. The deeper point is that science is simply concerned with understanding how the universe really works. Since we are part of the universe, it amounts to the way we truly understand ourselves and our relation to our surroundings. As for the supposed conflict between science and the humanities, the subjectivism of religion or of art is simply the act of relating scientific facts to ourselves as individuals. As Brown puts the matter toward the end of his book: 'Wisdom and vision both need imagination, but it must be imagination informed by truth, the sort of truth which science offers.' Finally, at the very end, he sums up the entire contribution of his worthwhile and readable book by saying: 'We must make it clear that the scientific vision of the world is neither a rival nor an alternative to any other point of view, but is an essential part of learning to be at home in this mysterious universe.'

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Julian Jaynes. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1976. 467 pp., illus. $12.95. Reviewed by F. H. C. Marriott*

Consciousness, the ability to visualize the world and oneself as a part of the world, is peculiar to humans. It is dependent on the

*Dept. of Biomathematics, University of Oxford, Pusey St., Oxford OX1 2JZ, England.

astronomy was to the exploration and mapping of the Earth in ancient times. Even the seemingly simple process of navigation at sea depended so critically on knowledge of stellar positions, the correct radius of the Earth and timekeeping being globally accurate to a few seconds. It is quite explicable that ancient- and middle-history governments supported observatories and astro- nomers as an important part of their activities. But even more fundamentally, astronomy transformed human primitive, anth- ropomorphic beliefs of a world controlled by demons and angels into a view of a world run by marvellously complex and interrelated laws of nature.

This book is very gently written, but it is a very scholarly and clearly written book. It explains complicated concepts of plane- tary orbits, the measurement of time, geometry and modern physics. But it does so sparely and transmits a sense of why the concepts are important. The exposition of the early history of astronomy is leisurely, with interesting anecdotes about some of the better known actors in that drama. An example is Galileo Galilei holding a thread up in front of a star to measure its angular sizes. An ironic facet of Isaac Newton's personality is related. Even though his laws of gravitation showed the non- uniqueness of the existence or of the creation of the Earth, Newton himself believed that the Bible gave its creation date to within 20 years. The later developments of nuclear fusion, general relativity and the expanding universe are more compre- ssed into the last third of the book. But the reason for this compression is clearly that the author wishes to come to the question of what is the present and future value of science.

The first point is that the technological products of science that are so present in today's society are inherently neither good nor evil. It is the applications that humans do, or do not, put these machines to that either hurts or benefits. But that is a trivial point. The deeper point is that science is simply concerned with understanding how the universe really works. Since we are part of the universe, it amounts to the way we truly understand ourselves and our relation to our surroundings. As for the supposed conflict between science and the humanities, the subjectivism of religion or of art is simply the act of relating scientific facts to ourselves as individuals. As Brown puts the matter toward the end of his book: 'Wisdom and vision both need imagination, but it must be imagination informed by truth, the sort of truth which science offers.' Finally, at the very end, he sums up the entire contribution of his worthwhile and readable book by saying: 'We must make it clear that the scientific vision of the world is neither a rival nor an alternative to any other point of view, but is an essential part of learning to be at home in this mysterious universe.'

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Julian Jaynes. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1976. 467 pp., illus. $12.95. Reviewed by F. H. C. Marriott*

Consciousness, the ability to visualize the world and oneself as a part of the world, is peculiar to humans. It is dependent on the

*Dept. of Biomathematics, University of Oxford, Pusey St., Oxford OX1 2JZ, England.

astronomy was to the exploration and mapping of the Earth in ancient times. Even the seemingly simple process of navigation at sea depended so critically on knowledge of stellar positions, the correct radius of the Earth and timekeeping being globally accurate to a few seconds. It is quite explicable that ancient- and middle-history governments supported observatories and astro- nomers as an important part of their activities. But even more fundamentally, astronomy transformed human primitive, anth- ropomorphic beliefs of a world controlled by demons and angels into a view of a world run by marvellously complex and interrelated laws of nature.

This book is very gently written, but it is a very scholarly and clearly written book. It explains complicated concepts of plane- tary orbits, the measurement of time, geometry and modern physics. But it does so sparely and transmits a sense of why the concepts are important. The exposition of the early history of astronomy is leisurely, with interesting anecdotes about some of the better known actors in that drama. An example is Galileo Galilei holding a thread up in front of a star to measure its angular sizes. An ironic facet of Isaac Newton's personality is related. Even though his laws of gravitation showed the non- uniqueness of the existence or of the creation of the Earth, Newton himself believed that the Bible gave its creation date to within 20 years. The later developments of nuclear fusion, general relativity and the expanding universe are more compre- ssed into the last third of the book. But the reason for this compression is clearly that the author wishes to come to the question of what is the present and future value of science.

The first point is that the technological products of science that are so present in today's society are inherently neither good nor evil. It is the applications that humans do, or do not, put these machines to that either hurts or benefits. But that is a trivial point. The deeper point is that science is simply concerned with understanding how the universe really works. Since we are part of the universe, it amounts to the way we truly understand ourselves and our relation to our surroundings. As for the supposed conflict between science and the humanities, the subjectivism of religion or of art is simply the act of relating scientific facts to ourselves as individuals. As Brown puts the matter toward the end of his book: 'Wisdom and vision both need imagination, but it must be imagination informed by truth, the sort of truth which science offers.' Finally, at the very end, he sums up the entire contribution of his worthwhile and readable book by saying: 'We must make it clear that the scientific vision of the world is neither a rival nor an alternative to any other point of view, but is an essential part of learning to be at home in this mysterious universe.'

The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind. Julian Jaynes. Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1976. 467 pp., illus. $12.95. Reviewed by F. H. C. Marriott*

Consciousness, the ability to visualize the world and oneself as a part of the world, is peculiar to humans. It is dependent on the

*Dept. of Biomathematics, University of Oxford, Pusey St., Oxford OX1 2JZ, England.

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This content downloaded from 195.34.79.208 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:14:40 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions